Carols at Warwick Castle is held annually in the run up to Christmas and is for many people the start of their Christmas festivities. It is a great opportunity for families and people of all ages to get together and join in singing carols led by the excellent choir of St Mary’s and Royal Spa Brass.

Set against the magnificent setting of the Castle’s East Gate, the event has a wonderful atmosphere and visitors have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of stalls offering such fare as mince pies, baked potatoes, sausage rolls and warm drinks including mulled wine.

The money raised by the event goes to local charities and towards good causes. This is organised by The Warwick Lions, Rotary Club, Merlin’s Magic Wand and the Friends of St Mary’s Choir. Warwick Castle provides the venue and many helpful support services free of charge.

It’s the last Saturday before Christmas! We’ll be in Warwick Market Square providing some festive cheer and serenading shoppers with a range of traditional carols and modern Christmas favourites. Come and have a listen - and if you’ve got a favourite, why not ask? We might just play it for you!

The Norton Lindsay Stilton Sniffers are a fabulous local fundraising team whose motto is "doing good while having a bit of fun". We can get behind that - and accompanying their annual carol night is one of our favourite regular gigs!

We are honoured to make our annual visit to support Myton Hospice's 'Light up a Life' Christmas service. There will be carols, mulled wine and some moving memories.

From the website:

You are invited to join us for a candlelit service to remember your loved ones at our Warwick Myton Hospice on Sunday the 16th December 2018 at 6pm.

Everyone is welcome to remember their loved one and be part of our events. All the events take place outside and last approximately 30 minutes. They are led by our Chaplaincy team and include festive carols and light refreshments.

We'll be at Warwick Races from open doors until the start of the first race, to help racegoers get into the festive spirit.

From the website:

Join in the fun at Warwick Racecourse's Eventmasters Christmas at the Races on Thursday 13th December. Can there be a better place for your Christmas get together?

There are plenty of themed hospitality options to consider for groups large and small. Brand new for this year, we are pleased to introduce Christmas with Crosse hosted by Jockey, David Crosse, familiar face to Warwick. A great value for money meal will be on the menu as David will introduce you to his many friends from the Weighing Room, give you his tips from the day’s racecard and keep you entertained throughout the afternoon.

We are honoured to make our first visit to support Myton Hospice (Coventry)'s 'Light up a Life' Christmas service. There will be carols, mulled wine and some moving memories.

From the website:

The lead up to Christmas is often busy and exciting with bustling shops, frantic present wrapping and catching up with friends and family, but it’s also the time of year when we remember those who are no longer with us and the difference they made...

Every December we host Light up a Life services at our hospices in Warwick, Coventry and Rugby to give families and friends the chance to celebrate the lives of their loved ones during the festive season – when memories feel somehow more poignant.

It’s our first time at the Myton Hospices’ Santa Dash and we are very excited to be cheering on all the running Santas with some festive music!

From the website:

Get in the festive spirit by taking part in Myton’s famous Santa Dash in Leamington Spa!

Nothing says ‘Christmas’ quite like pulling on a Santa suit andrunning,joggingorwalking5kfor charity. So whether signing up gives you the perfect excuse to lace up your running shoes despite the cold weather, or if you want to get the family together for some festive fundraising, this is the event for you!

Taking place onSunday 9th DecemberatVictoria ParkinLeamington Spa, you will take on a5k run,jog or walk.

We are hoping to raise£38,000from your Santa Dash sponsorship this year so we can continue providing our services to people with terminal and life limiting illnesses, and their families, over the festive period. Join hundreds of other Santa’s and Elves and do something amazing for your local charity this Christmas!

RSB Quintet are delighted to return to St Mary's for this year's Christmas Tree Festival!.

From the website:

The Collegiate Church of St Mary’s in Warwick is the beautiful setting for the annual Christmas Tree Festival that opens on Warwick Town Victorian evening, Thursday 29 November and continues until Sunday 9 December 2018. Visitors can vote for their favourite Christmas tree and be entered in the prize draw. All the trees are individually decorated by the community and local businesses and this will be an opportunity to celebrate the spirit of Christmas and be inspired by local people and organisations.Craft stalls and the St Mary’s gift shop will help with those Christmas presents.

An RSB ensemble will be entertaining the crowds with some festive favourites during Coughton’s Christmas market!

From the website:

‘Get all the family together this Christmas and join us for our traditional Christmas market on both weekends where festive stalls will be lining the stable yard selling gifts and treats for you to browse. There will be an array of delicious food stalls from Arrow Pig Roast selling hot pork baps to Fowlers Cheese who have been developing the craft of cheese-making for over fourteen generations. If you’re looking to stock up your Christmas drinks table with a few special bottles we’ve got Hay Wines, a family owned & independent wine merchants selling wines, whiskies, spirits and liqueurs and The Incredible Brewing Co bringing fresh natural hand crafted beers to Coughton this Christmas.

RSB Quintet are delighted to return to St Mary's for this year's Christmas Tree Festival!.

From the website:

The Collegiate Church of St Mary’s in Warwick is the beautiful setting for the annual Christmas Tree Festival that opens on Warwick Town Victorian evening, Thursday 29 November and continues until Sunday 9 December 2018. Visitors can vote for their favourite Christmas tree and be entered in the prize draw. All the trees are individually decorated by the community and local businesses and this will be an opportunity to celebrate the spirit of Christmas and be inspired by local people and organisations.Craft stalls and the St Mary’s gift shop will help with those Christmas presents.

RSB Quintet are delighted to return to St Mary's for the launch of this year's Christmas Tree Festival!.

From the website:

The Collegiate Church of St Mary’s in Warwick is the beautiful setting for the annual Christmas Tree Festival that opens on Warwick Town Victorian evening, Thursday 29 November and continues until Sunday 9 December 2018. Visitors can vote for their favourite Christmas tree and be entered in the prize draw. All the trees are individually decorated by the community and local businesses and this will be an opportunity to celebrate the spirit of Christmas and be inspired by local people and organisations.Craft stalls and the St Mary’s gift shop will help with those Christmas presents.

This is one of our favourite annual gigs - the switching on of the Rotary Tree of Light outside Leamington Town Hall. We'll be accompanying the short carol service and playing lots of seasonal favourites before and after the ceremony. Come and sing along!

We are honoured to take part in Leamington’s contribution to the nationwide WWI Beacons of Light commemoration.

The event will begin with a short service at the War Memorial at 6pm. We will be playing a short set from 5.45pm as people assemble

After the service at the War Memorial, we will make our way to Newbold Comyn for the second part of the service, beginning at 6.45pm.

From the website:

6.55pm - The Last Post - In association with the Air Training Corps, Army Cadet Force, Sea Cadet Force and the Light Infantry Buglers Association, the Last Post will be played at many of the 1,000 WWI Beacon sites throughout the United Kingdom, involving young people and others paying their personal tribute to those that gave their lives during World War I.

7.00pm - WWI Beacons of Light - Later that day, after darkness has fallen, more than 1,000 Beacons of Light will be lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories.

7.05pm - Ringing out for peace! - As beacons blaze around the country, bells in 1,000 churches and cathedrals will ring out in celebration of the end of the First World War.

We are honoured to have been asked back for the third time to support this Gala Concert and Drumhead Service, organised by the British Legion. We will be performing alongside our friends from Village Voices, Priory Youth Theatre, and the Leamington & Warwick Sea Cadet Band.

RSB Quintet are honoured to support the gala dinner closing the Warwick Poppies appeal, one year after we played at the appeal’s launch.

From the Warwick Poppies website:

At 11am, on the 11th November 1918, the guns fell silent, marking the end of the First World War. To commemorate the centenary of this historic event, highlighting the part that Warwickshire people played in that terrible war, Warwick Poppies 2018 is mounting a massive display of thousands of hand made poppies within the magnificent Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick.

The display will be open daily from October 6th until December 9th 2018, 10am until 4pm, except when the Church is closed for services, weddings, or other events.

We're delighted to be back as part of the hugely popular Bands in the Park summer season. This year we'll be at Evesham Abbey Park. Bring a chair and (hopefully!) some sunscreen, grab an ice cream, and enjoy the music!

Sunday 28th May – Prior to the Concert 1 minute silence was held in recognition and respect for those who had lost their lives or been injured in the recent Manchester bombing atrocity after which Royal Spa Brass fittingly began with a subdued piece entitled ‘Highland Cathedral’, originally written by Howard Lorriman for performance at the 2003 Gala Concert, which followed the National Brass Band Championships. In absolute contrast the band preceded on with ‘The Muppet Show’ cartoon piece and then a stimulating performance of the ‘1914 March’. Alan Menkin’s ‘Beauty & The Beast’ followed and afterwards a ‘’Dixieland’ style arrangement, I believe by Dennis Armitage of ‘Down By The Riverside’ which certainly had everyone’s feet tapping. Referring to the musical achievements of the late David Bowie and the dilemma of selecting a piece to play from his many memorable works it had unanimously been decided to include ’Life on Mars’

Following on afterwards came Freddie Mercury’s ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ originally performed by the rock band Queen in 1979 …A fine rendition of one of Kenneth Alford’s celebrated marches ‘The Standard of St George’ followed next before a ‘quintet’ from within the band was featured performing two short pieces, one of which was a Glenn Miller big band classic ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’ The first half concluded with a very impressive confident performance of the Eric Coates ‘Dambusters March’

Another well chosen selection of music made up the 2nd half which the band confidently opened with a lively instrumental version of the ‘Floral Dance’ an old English song written originally to describe the annual Furry Dance held in Helston, Cornwall. A relaxing rendition of music from ‘The Lion King’ the well-liked Elton John classic came up next prior to what was described as one of the most memorable Eurovision Contest wins of all time Abba’s ‘Take A Chance’ which led the way to a steady stream of other popular band favourites ‘Summer Nights’ from Grease, John Williams’s ‘Raiders March’, film music from Disney's Pocahontas in the form of ‘Colours of the Wind’ plus the exciting music from ‘Pirates of The Caribbean’The afternoon continued with the theme to the BBC TV football programme ‘Match of the Day’ composed by R Stroller before moving on to the 1980 Madness Hit ’Baggy Trousers’ and finally concluding with a great sing-along style arrangement of traditional tunes with a modern beat entitled ‘Best Of British’ which we believed to be a Derek Ashmore arrangement

Plenty of well-liked pieces today, which brought forth lots of appreciative comments for a ‘fine’ band that once again, had provided excellent entertainment.. An enjoyable afternoon’s listening, thank you Royal Spa Brass .. Well done!